'Meatless Monday' slogan causes flap at Chico State

CHICO — A verbal battle over "Meatless Monday" surprised Chico State University's leaders and led to a quick policy reversal this week.

The chain of events began with a decision to offer a few more vegetarian dishes at the large dining hall where dormitory residents eat.

That wasn't controversial.

But a long online debate flared up after the Associated Students Dining Services accepted an invitation from the Humane Society of the United States to join a campaign called "Meatless Monday."

Among other things the A.S. provides food for the residence halls and at the student union.

"Meatless Monday" is an effort to encourage eating less meat on Mondays. The invitation from HSUS said a number of universities had joined and asked if Chico State would sign up, too.

To A.S. Dining Services officials, it sounded like a catchy way to promote the plan to offer, on Mondays, vegetarian cuisine at one of the five "stations" where students select food at Sutter Hall. So they agreed to participate.

Rumblings about the decision were heard soon after HSUS issued a news release last week praising the Chico decision on Meatless Monday.

Dave Daley, associate dean of Chico State's College of Agriculture said he learned of the matter when he got an emailed from an unhappy woman who'd graduated in agriculture from the university.

She couldn't understand why Chico State, with its important agricultural component, would affiliate itself with HSUS, which she characterized as a zealous animal-rights organization out to end animal production altogether. Similar complaints were received.

Students and faculty in the College of Agriculture were familiar with HSUS. After they heard about the A.S. involvement with Meatless Monday, complaints began being posted on the Chico State Facebook page.

These were met with posts from students and others who favor vegetarianism.

"Less meat equals better health for the individual and the planet and less suffering for sentient beings," one post read.

"They (HSUS) lobby against animal agriculture and create costly ballot initiatives that target family farms," said another from the opposing side.

Campus spokesman Joe Wills said there were hundreds of posts on Facebook, although some came from the same individuals.

Keaton Bass, a Chico State student who chairs the A.S. Business Committee, said he and others who oversee Dining Services were amazed by all the verbal jousting.

They hadn't thought there was anything controversial about HSUS, he said. They thought incorrectly the organization was connected to all the local dog-and-cat shelters called humane societies.

"We did not mean to align ourselves with (HSUS)," he said. "It looks like we made a small mistake that got much larger."

Bass said Dining Services leaders held a number of meetings and decided while they'd keep serving more vegetarian meals, they would drop the Meatless Monday connection.

Kristie Middleton of HSUS said the misunderstanding was regrettable.

She said raising animals is hard on the environment and that eating meat "is directly linked to heart disease and some forms of cancer."

Daley said people often ignore reality when they talk about animals being raised for meat.

He said scientific evidence shows meat doesn't cause health problems if moderate amounts are eaten. Raising livestock benefits the planet and people by preserving open space and producing protein from plant products that would have no other use than feed.

He said ranchers themselves are making their operations more humane because it's the right thing to do.

The HSUS website says besides its efforts concerning farm animals, the group works in many areas, such as rescuing animals in disasters, running free spay/neuter clinics, and opposing illegal animal fighting, puppy mills and animal testing.